June 20, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 15, 1429

KARACHI, June 19: Defending Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka and India will be the last teams to arrive in Pakistan for the ninth edition of the tournament that begins from next week in Karachi and Lahore.

Mahela Jayawardene-led Sri Lankans are scheduled to reach Lahore in the early hours of Monday while India, skippered by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, are slated to land in Karachi late on Sunday night.

Hong Kong, placed in Group ‘B’ alongside Asian heavyweights Pakistan and India, will be the first squad to land in Pakistan when they arrive in Karachi on Friday night.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), who are in Group ‘A’ along with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, are expected in Lahore on Saturday afternoon with Mohammad Ashraful’s Bangladeshis due in the Punjab capital the same night.

The UAE meet Bangladesh in their group’s opening match at the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday while minnows Hong Kong face the formidable Pakistan here at the National Stadium the same day.

The twenty Pakistan probables will attend a short training camp at the National Stadium from Friday evening under the supervision of national coach Geoff Lawson before chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed unveils the 15-man squad on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the tournament organisers announced on Thursday that all matches in the event would begin at 4.00pm. Earlier, only the three preliminary round fixtures in Lahore were scheduled to start at 4.00pm with the 10 games in Karachi beginning an hour late, at 5.00pm.The International Cricket Council (ICC) have nominated umpires Simon Taufel of Australia, New Zealand’s Tony Hill, Brian Jerling of South Africa and England’s Ian Gould to officiate in the June 24-July 6 tournament with former South African all-rounder Mike Procter and ex-Australian fast bowler Alan Hurst officiating as the match referees.

Visiting squads:

INDIA: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, R.P. Singh, Manpreet Gony, Pragyan Ojha.

Officials: Gary Kirsten (coach), Arindham Ganguly (manager), Paddy Upton, Venkatesh Prasad (bowling coach), Robin Singh (fielding coach), Nitin Patel, C.M.R. Dhananjay, Russel Radhakrishnan, Ramesh Mane.

SRI LANKA: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara (vice-captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Udawatte, Chamara Silva, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Kaushal Weeraratne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Ajantha Mendis, Jehan Mubarak, Nuwan Kulasekera.

Officials: Trevor Bayliss (coach), Paul Farbrace (assistant coach), Shriyan Samararatne (manager), Jade Roberts (trainer), Ranjith Nanayakkarawasam (physiotherapist), Nalin de Alwis (computer analyst), Lal Thamel (masseur).

BANGLADESH: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Mortaza (vice-captain), Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Raqibul Hasan, Alok Kapali, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Nazimuddin, Mushfiqur Rahim, Farhad Reza, Shahadat Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Dolar Mahmud, Mosharraf Hossain, Mahmudullah.

Officials: Jimmy Siddons (coach), Shafiqul Hoque (manager), Darryn Lifson (physiotherapist), Nasir Ahmed (computer analyst).

UAE: Saqib Ali (captain), Mohammad Tauqir (vice-captain), Khurram Khan, Arshad Ali, Amjad Ali, Zahid Shah, Salman Farooq, Alavi Shukri, Fahad Alhashmi, Shadeep Silva, M. Aman Ali, Amjad Javed, Vikrant Shetty, Nizel Fernandes, Indika Batuwitarachchi.

Officials: Vasbert Drakes (coach), Mazharullah Khan (manager), Chitrala Sudhakar (physiotherapist).

HONG KONG: Tabarak Dar (captain), Afzaal Haider, Courtney Kruger, Toby Brown, Zain Abbas, Khaled Hussain Butt, Shkawat Ali, Najeeb Amar, Ashish Gadhia, James Atkinson, Roy Lamsam, Munir Ahmed Dar, Irfan Ahmed, Wakas Barkat, Nadeem Ahmed.

Officials: Aftab Habib (coach), Ravi Nagdev (manager), Michael Waters (physiotherapist), Sher Lama (trainer), Sohail Murshed (assistant manager).